Chinchillas for therapy at schools and care homes / mobile circus

[JohhnyBishop]

Hi All,
I am in the process of rehoming two of my chinchillas and I have been contacted by some people who run business where they take animals to schools and care homes to provide some therapy.
I have been contacted twice by such individuals and I am quite reluctant knowing that chinchillas sleep when in this case they would be "on duty" at some foreign locations surrounded by strangers.
I don't know about other rodents and their daily habits but I reckon this would be a form of mistreatment of chinchillas and a life in a such mobile circus would cut their lifespan by half.
What are your thoughts?
Best regards

 

[Amethyst]

I think it would be a terrible idea for 99.9% of chins. First most chins are not suited for that, they would need to be abnormally outgoing and not skittish of strangers at all, and be ok with regular travel which most aren't. Most chins take at least a week if not longer to adjust to a new place, but you can get the odd one that doesn't realize it's a prey animal and takes life in stride. So unless they are extremely laid back chins regular travel and new people is going to be very stressful, and that is still assuming all the humans are behaving (no loud voices, screaming, crying, no grabbing at them, etc). You can't train them to be ok with that either it comes down to personality.
Next when traveling from place to place what is their setup, do they have secure encloses in the vehicle with zero contact with other animals (including preventing airborne transmission of things), and can they guarantee climate control at all times? So not only kept in AC in the vehicle (ideally in climate controlled cage/compartments) but also every place they are going, I know not all schools and care places have AC or working AC at all times. Even if the temp outside is cool, a room full of people can heat up quickly, meaning AC would likely be needed to keep the temp cool enough. Depending on the care home if they have AC they might not be willing or able to keep it low enough do to making the residents too cold (ideally below 20C with a room full of people). Also what age group and ablity level would they be in contact with, chins are fragile so even if you have the most chill chinchillas I would still not advise them to go to someone that is going to be taking them around young kids (under 12) or people that can't control themselves (physically or mentally), so I'm not sure how much "therapy" they would be. Also do they have things setup so they can make sure no one touches the chins and/or the chins can go back into their cage where they can't be disturbed if things get too much for them?

So I guess the bottom line, if they are the "perfect" chins (very laid back, good with handling and strangers, and enjoys travel), and the people can guarantee secure climate controlled enclosures while traveling and proper temp and humidity everywhere they go. As well as never take the chin around people that are unable to control themselves, it might work, however the likelihood of all that is very slim.

I do think some other rodents would work much better for that "job" though, things like rats, hamsters, or even guinea pigs would all be much much better options then a chinchilla. If they really want something similar to a chinchilla that is going to be more laid back they should look into rabbits, some of the larger breed rabbits can be very tolerant with handling.

 

[JohhnyBishop]

This is what I thought. I keep an eye and perhaps such people should be educated if not reported.
People need to educate more because they don't do any good to people and animals that are not up for the job.
I reckon female chinchillas are out of question but I do have one female that is forthcoming.
I think boys would be better for this kind of assignments but again as you said it has to be that laid-back type male.
The environment and conditions is another bag of concerns.

 

[tunes]

Noooo. Everything that Amethyst said in spades. Chinchillas are not something that should be used for this.

 

[Lissy]

I'd say definitely not a good idea. The sleeping during the day because they are nocturnal aspect would be a big problem for the chins if forced to br active. Also, not all chins like to be held, so if they go to jump & run and someone inexperienced is holding them, trys to prevent them from jumping, they could squeeze it too hard and hurt them.

 

[Binki]

Totally agree with Amethyst. Those people are lucky that you are polite because in your place I would have been too tempted to ask what they have been smoking or whether their knowledge of chins comes from those TikTok clips showing chins in hats.

My rescue boy is so placid that one can get his coat groomed while he dozes of and if the comb hits a snag, he just hisses and goes back to snooze mode. He is even capable of some kind of training. But as much as I woudl like to get people who need it most to enjoy the magic of chins, I would never dream of having him as therapy animal. The reason, in addition to all the ones already mentioned in other posts, is their sheer unpredictability.

I had several breeds of sighthounds (Borzois, Salukis and iggies) and like chins, they are born bolters. They all seem to have a randomised switch in their brains that when it clicks, off they go, out of the blue, at lightening speed. Whether they see a movement, get spooked or get the zommies, you just cannot trust them off the lead anywhere near traffic or out of a secure enclosure, even when well trained. That is why I never entrusted them to anyone who, not matter how much they knew about dogs, never had hounds: they were just bound to get into some heart arresting scrapes.

Hounds are hunters and chins are prey but as extremes often touch, both are very similar in that respect. And one can train a chin to run but 'stop' is not a notion they can grasp.

BTW: perhaps you know this already and I apologise if I am stating the obvious, but in the UK there are private Facebook rehoming-only groups, with about 5K members each. May save you from having to deal with pesky 'but-I-saw-it-in-TikTok' individuals who may have had a smoke too many with a certain prince of the realm.

 

[JohhnyBishop]

Totally agree with Amethyst. Those people are lucky that you are polite because in your place I would have been too tempted to ask what they have been smoking or whether their knowledge of chins comes from those TikTok clips showing chins in hats.

My rescue boy is so placid that one can get his coat groomed while he dozes of and if the comb hits a snag, he just hisses and goes back to snooze mode. He is even capable of some kind of training. But as much as I woudl like to get people who need it most to enjoy the magic of chins, I would never dream of having him as therapy animal. The reason, in addition to all the ones already mentioned in other posts, is their sheer unpredictability.

I had several breeds of sighthounds (Borzois, Salukis and iggies) and like chins, they are born bolters. They all seem to have a randomised switch in their brains that when it clicks, off they go, out of the blue, at lightening speed. Whether they see a movement, get spooked or get the zommies, you just cannot trust them off the lead anywhere near traffic or out of a secure enclosure, even when well trained. That is why I never entrusted them to anyone who, not matter how much they knew about dogs, never had hounds: they were just bound to get into some heart arresting scrapes.

Hounds are hunters and chins are prey but as extremes often touch, both are very similar in that respect. And one can train a chin to run but 'stop' is not a notion they can grasp.

BTW: perhaps you know this already and I apologise if I am stating the obvious, but in the UK there are private Facebook rehoming-only groups, with about 5K members each. May save you from having to deal with pesky 'but-I-saw-it-in-TikTok' individuals who may have had a smoke too many with a certain prince of the realm.

I agree.
I think Pets4Homes website is good but there is too many spam queries what I mean by people some passerbyers who express interest in an animal but then disappear in the ether. It looks like a waste of time to converse with such people.
Indeed I was thinking to advertise on FB on those groups but I just didn't have time or to be honest in the process I bonded with the animals and my second self is jeopardizing the efforts
To me re-homing is a different league.

 

[Lissy]

You do have to admit, chins with hats are adorable and I'm upset mine won't sit still long enough to even get regular non-blurry photo

 

[JohhnyBishop]

You do have to admit, chins with hats are adorable and I'm upset mine won't sit still long enough to even get regular non-blurry photo

I reckon these therapy people want chin to dance in a hat while holding an opened umbrella.

 

[Binki]

mine won't sit still long enough to even get regular non-blurry photo

Would not put it past chins to be self conscious, with one saying to the other 'Oh, no! Look: camera pointing at us! Quick, quick, run; what if we end in social media and our bums look big in this???

 

[JohnniePierce]

yes it's quite fun i even have a blog about my favorite pet at petdisease.net

 

[JohhnyBishop]

Chinchillas in therapy sessions at schools and care homes sound like such a sweet idea! These adorable little creatures are not only super cute but also incredibly soft, which makes them perfect for calming and comforting interactions.

Personally I think chinchillas are great as pets but not for one-off and short interactions. I think naturally friendly dogs like the ones who sit on your lap as soon as they know you are friends with their owner. This kind of dogs would do a much much better job in therapies especially with people who have little to no experience with animals.
Chins are too fragile and people have to adjust to them rather than chinchillas adjusting to people what could lead to injuries as people not familiar with them and not careful enough would squeeze them every so often. Besides people new to chinchillas have no reflex and when chinchilla decides to run it results in even more squeezing and tail pulling.

I think my chinchilla male would suit better for this role as he is naturally approachable and curious but in a new room and surrounded by strangers, not so sure. I have a hard time imagining an interaction between a female chinchilla while surrounded by strangers even while in her big cage. I think chinchillas would end up quite stressed in an ever changing surrounding.

I would allow for interaction with chinchilla but once a person has already PASSED interaction with let's say a couple of dogs. And it would have to be a place where people come to rather than a chinchilla arriving in a cage.

In my opinion the rule of thumb should be that the therapists should default to dogs which are better at reading people and are more forgiving. I understand the therapists want to broaden their offering but this is not doing anyone good. A friendly dog will do a much better job in therapy than a skittish chinchilla or a selfish cat. I would go for a bunch of different dogs rather than a small zoo. It's not a coincidence that dogs are so popular.
Interaction with chinchillas is a steep learning process and impatient, imposing people will most likely mistreat/harm them in the process as who can resist not to touch them and 2 seconds later is pulling chinchilla's tail.
There was a 12 years boy successfully interacting with my male chin and he was careful enough but again it takes some time before they get use to each other. He wasn't comfortable to handle the chin though.
I can imagine putting a stranger in a chin-proof room to just sit on the ground and enjoy watching them jumping and taking sand baths until the chins get use to the stranger and start climbing on him/her and use as part of the terrain. That's the best chinchilla interaction you can get. Chinchillas don't like being held. I think cats are fine with that that is why they are second to dogs.
I find myself doing it at times but I know whenever I get tempted I lose some brownie points as a result as oftentimes human petting and cuddling is excessive to chinchillas. Most of the time I interact with them through an open cage.
They step on my palms only because they know and want to be transferred from the cage of origin to the cage of destination. I am like a shuttle to them

 

[JohhnyBishop]

I've read that interacting with animals can really help reduce stress and improve mood, which is so beneficial, especially in educational and care settings. Plus, who wouldn't smile seeing a fluffy chinchilla hopping around? It's like a tiny, mobile circus of joy! If you need a break from the cuteness, organizing your schoolwork is a breeze with tools like https://essaypro.com/homework-planner. It’s super helpful for staying on track!

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